The XMM-Newton Guest Observer Facility

XMM-Newton, the X-ray Multi-Mirror
Mission, is the second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 program of the
European Space Agency (ESA).
XMM-Newton was launched on December 10 1999 at 14:32 GMT (09:32 EST).
The observatory consists of three coaligned high throughput 7.5m focal
length telescopes with 6 arc second FWHM (15 arc second HPD) angular
resolution. With its large collecting area and X-ray and optical/UV bands,
XMM greatly facilitates studies of objects ranging from clusters of
galaxies to compact objects, and their inherent physical attibutes.

Besides having funded elements of the
XMM-Newton instrument package, NASA also provides the
NASA Guest Observer Facility (GOF) at
the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and funds a Guest Observer (GO)
program to support the usage of XMM by the U.S. scientific community.
The GOF provides a clearing
house for project-generated technical information and analysis software as
well as budget support for U.S. astronomers who apply for
XMM-Newton observation time.

XMM-Newton images over a 30 arc minute field of view with
moderate spectral resolution. The European Photon Imaging Camera
(EPIC) observes in the 0.2-12 keV band and consists of two MOS
and one PN CCD arrays. High-resolution spectral
information (E/dE~300 from 0.4-2.5 keV) is provided by the Reflection Grating
Spectrometer (RGS) that deflects half of the beam on two of the X-ray
telescopes. The observatory also has a coaligned 30 cm optical/UV
telescope, the Optical Monitor (OM). More detailed information on
the instruments can be found under Focal Plane
Instrumentation in these pages and in the XMM-Newton Users' Handbook
(GSFC or ESAC links).